BETWEEN THE BARRELS--THE TRUE LIGHT SHINING--A DANGER--LIGHT IN THE
CLUB-ROOM--THE CHANGE WROUGHT--VICTORY GAINED--EVIL RESISTED--GOOD
ADVICE--A WHITE SERGEANT--A WISE REMOVAL--THE GOOD INCREASED.
THE BOOK IN THE BARS:
ITS LIGHT.
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." PS.
cxix. 105.
"You see, master, as how it can't be no otherwise; my poor husband is
very ill, and cos it's consumption he can't live long. I has to go out
a-selling to get us a living, and he is miserable all by hisself. Now,
though I says it myself, he is very much respected by the landlord and
all as uses this house, and he always enjoys hisself here. So they have
put the two large barrels at each side of the little one, and before I
goes out I takes him and puts him down comfortable, as in an arm-chair,
and then his pals gives him sups of rum, and that sort of thing, and it
does him lots of good--and he shan't be without his enjoyments for the
like of you."
The latter part of this speech was delivered in a defiant tone. The
speaker was the wife of a costermonger who lived in a neighbouring
court. The person addressed was the Missionary of the district, who had,
by a kind touch of the arm and a cheerful "How are you to-day?" arrested
their hurried entrance into a gin-palace. The man was about thirty years
of age, and as he leaned against the marbled pillar of the "palace,"
supporting himself upon his stick, he presented a pitiable sight. The
loose-fitting jacket, the sunken eyes, the hectic flush upon the cheek,
and hard breathing, indicated his near approach to the grave. A few
words of gentle reproof and concern for his spiritual safety only
provoked a movement by which he was partly supported and partly pushed
into the bar.
As the massive door with its ground-glass panels closed upon them, an
expression of sadness passed over the face of the Missionary. He had
just entered upon the work, and for the first time realized in its
intensity the "burden of souls." Only a few weeks before, the Committee
of the London City Mission had said to him, "Visit the inhabitants of
the district assigned you, for the purpose of bringing them to an
acquaintance with salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, and of doing
them good by every means in your power." The court in which these
persons lived was within the district, and it was his duty to seek the
salvation of that man. As he passed on, he thus reasoned with himself:
"If I make no effort for his good, he must be lost; but what can I do?
When I called in at his room last evening, he was stupefied with liquor,
and it will be the same to-night. He is sober now; why should I not
visit him in the bar, and deal faithfully with him?" After prayerfully
pondering the matter, he turned back and timidly entered the "palace."
The woman had left, but the man was there in the position described by
her. The small barrel was so placed between the two large ones as to
form a comfortable seat. Several men of his own class were standing by
him, and though early in the day, groups of gin-drinking men and women
had assembled in the four compartments into which the bar was divided.
The floor had been swept and covered with sawdust, which gave it a
comfortable appearance, while its spaciousness and highly-varnished
hundred-gallon hogsheads, the gilded frame-work of the plate-glass
panelling, the bright rows of wine and spirit bottles, and the active
movements of the landlord and two barmen, rendered the place attractive
and pleasant to the miserably clad customers.
[Illustration: Man speaking to other men in bar]
The sick man was evidently startled by the appearance of the visitor,
who set him at ease by observing, "You must have plenty of time for
reading, so I thought I would call and give you some interesting little
books which I intended to have left in your room."
Several were then handed to him, and accepted with the remark, "I can't
read much, but I'll ask the chaps what reads the papers to read them to
me."
The men who were standing round asked for tracts and then listened with
deep interest while the Missionary repeated the parable of the builders.
Only a few remarks were made upon it, when the landlord in an angry tone
assured the visitor that, "They were not natural fools, to believe a set
of lies made up by the Jews."
"The words I have repeated," was the calm reply, "were uttered by the
Saviour of the world in mercy to sinners. Believe them, and your soul
shall live."
By this time the customers had gathered from the other compartments,
attracted by the novelty of religious teaching in such a place. The
landlord spoke quietly to several men who were standing near the bar,
and immediately after one of them made his way towards the Missionary,
and tore the leaves of a tract, formed them into paper lights. He lit
his own pipe with one of them, observing in derision,--
"These here are useful things, guv'nor, to light up with: give us some
more."
A general laugh was suppressed by the prompt answer,--
"Of course I will, as they are useful things. I have given enough
already to light you all up,--that is, in the right way; and I'll give
you some more, and tell you what I mean. Now, there are some people who
are always in the dark, because they are blind; and there are some
people who are always dark in their souls. They don't see with their
minds the beautiful things that are in the Bible, so they live badly,
just as if there was no God. That's a miserable way of living; and when
they are taken ill they are afraid to die, because the grave is a dark
place to go to. Now, if a man reads these tracts, and thinks about what
he reads, he will light up his soul. Why, at the end of this tract there
is a little bit out of the Bible which would do it for all of you:
'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' When a man believes
that, he becomes sorry for his sins, and asks God for pardon, because
Jesus died upon the cross for him. He is then forgiven, and by the Holy
Spirit of God made good and happy. He has then no fear of death, because
he is certain of being in heaven with the Saviour for ever."
Further remarks were prevented by the landlord, who, forcing his way
through the crowd of eager listeners, seized the speaker by the arm, and
with an oath thrust him into the street. And thus ended the first
missionary visit to the public-houses.
A few days after the wife of the costermonger came up to the Missionary,
who was passing the court, and said, "Please, master, my poor husband
wants to be religious; he says that he is all dark, and he wants to hear
some reading, and I've got no learning; and he has not been in the bar,
as he thought maybe that you would call."
"I will see him at once," was the reply; and the Christian visitor
stepped with her into the room.
Before a word of greeting could be uttered, the poor man exclaimed, with
all the eagerness of one in spiritual distress, "Sir, I have been
dreadful wicked in my time, and it's dreadful to be ill, and I don't
know what prayers to say."
The visitor looked with pity into the careworn, pallid face of the
all-but-dying man, and, taking a seat by his side, told him in simple
words the wondrous and soothing story of a Saviour's love, and before
leaving taught him a few sentences of prayer. Such visits were repeated
daily, as the increasing weakness of the sufferer showed that the time
for instructing him in the way of salvation was short indeed.
Upon the last of these visits he listened with absorbing interest to the
narrative of the Lord's ascension, and then, with a smile of peace,
exclaimed, "He died for poor me, and He has made it all right now, and I
shall go up to Him."
That night he passed away; and it was for some time the talk of the
Court that he died happy, because he was made a Christian in the
public-house.
One evening, about thirteen months after this event, a crowd of persons,
among whom were many of the respectable inhabitants, stood around the
gin-palace in earnest conversation. It was so unlike the noisy crowds
which assembled when drunkards were ejected, that the Missionary, who
was passing, inquired the cause.
"The landlord has broken a blood vessel," was the reply: "three doctors
are with him, and we are waiting to know the result."
Upon its being stated that the doctors gave hope of his recovery, the
people separated. For days it was rumoured that his life was in danger,
and at the little mission service held in the Court, prayer was made on
his behalf. Several mornings after, the Missionary inquired of the
servant, who was standing at the private door, as to the state of her
master's health.
"A little better," she replied; "but he is still in the club-room, as
the doctors say it will be dangerous to remove him for some days."
Acting upon the impulse of the moment, the Missionary passed the
servant, and with an ejaculatory prayer for success, ascended the
stairs, and tapped at the club-room door.
"Come in," said a faint voice; and the visitor entered and saw the
landlord lying upon a couch, near the fire.
Stepping gently forward, he said in a subdued tone, "I must ask you,
sir, to forgive this act of apparent rudeness. The truth is, that since
hearing of your illness I have been praying for you."
There was a momentary embarrassment, until the patient, with a troubled
expression of face, whispered,--
"Who asked you to pray for me? I don't believe in theology."
"No one asked me," was the reply; "but if you will keep from speaking,
which may retard your recovery, I will, in a few words, tell you why
prayer was made to God in your behalf. After years of Bible-study I know
its statements to be true; and then I have tested its promises, and know
the blessings to be real. You, perhaps, from want of opportunity, have
not done the one, and are therefore without the blessings now that you
most need them. I have felt as anxious about you as though you had been
an old friend; and we have prayed that your life may be spared, and your
soul saved."
"It's no use: I can never believe," was the reply; but it was delivered
so feebly, and with such an expression of mental and physical pain upon
the countenance, as to draw forth emotions of sympathy.
"Permit me," said the visitor, "to repeat two passages of Scripture, and
then I will leave you: 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found
in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
the earth, and things under earth; and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' 'This is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners.'" Placing his pocket Bible upon the
table, with the passage turned down, the visitor took the hand that was
offered to him, and said, "I will leave my card: send to me as a friend
whenever you please; and may you find peace in the love of Jesus."
During the conversation, the wife had entered, and following the visitor
out of the room, thanked him for calling. "I was religious once," she
observed; "but years before the bar has ruined me altogether; you cannot
do a first-class gin trade and keep religious."
The old question about the profit of gaining the world and losing the
soul was put to her, and so they parted.
Three mornings after, the potman called at the Missionary's house with
the message that his master wished to see him as soon as he could call
in.
"Thank you for coming," was the greeting with which the landlord
received the visitor, who had hastened to obey his request: "I want to
ask you to forgive me for treating you so badly when you came into the
bar to see the poor fellow who was ill. I was in liquor--that's how I
came to do it."
"Don't think of that," was the reply; "besides, I made excuse for you,
as it was a strange thing for me to enter your bar and talk about
religion."
"It was," he replied; "but after the man was dead, the widow used to
tell us that he died so happy; and I have often thought that you then
acted as though you believed the Gospel to be true, because following
him into my bar was seeking the lost sheep, and no mistake."
This introduced the subject of the internal evidence of the Bible; and
the visitor, after reading portions of the fifth chapter of 2
Corinthians, commented on the words, "If any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature;" showing that among the pillars of evidence which support
the Bible is the experience of the fact that all who exercise saving
faith in the Lord Jesus become the possessors of a sealed peace, and
prove by holy living the change of the inner nature.
This visit was the commencement of a friendship between the Christian
teacher and the publican, who remained ill for several months. His
sceptical objections to the truth were examined and gradually removed;
while the constant reading of that Word, the entrance of which into the
soul gives light, gradually wrought a change in his views and feelings.
He made no profession of religion, but the change was apparent to all
who knew him. He overcame the habit of profane swearing, and showed an
interest in good things. His presence in the bar effected a change in
the character of the house. He not only checked blasphemous and bad
language, but he refused to serve persons who were in liquor, and would
not allow mothers with infants in their arms to stand in the bar. The
visits of the Missionary were encouraged. After conversation with the
family, he used to go into the serving-bar for conversation with the
men; and after that visited the four compartments used by customers,
reasoning with them about righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to
come. This teaching was blessed to souls, as a desire to know the truth
was manifested by several of the worst characters in the neighbourhood.
They used to accept the invitation to come and hear the Scriptures read
in a room down the court, and as the gracious result, several became
converted. Amongst these were two drunken women, who used to boast of
the number of times they had been locked up; a youth of eighteen who had
lived by thieving; and a journeyman shoemaker.
The good influence was increasing in the publican's family, when he was
suddenly taken ill, and it became evident that his sickness was unto
death. He lingered for some time in great weakness, but was happy in the
love of God. Shortly before his death, he said to the Missionary, "I
have settled my affairs, as I have no hope of recovery; and now I have
to ask a great kindness of you: it is that you will promise me to take a
friendly interest in my wife and children when I am gone." Upon the
promise being given, he added, "I should like, for my comfort, to
receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, because I have renounced my
infidelity, and am trusting for salvation to the blood-shedding and
merit of the risen Jesus."
A few hours after, the Rector and the Missionary entered the gin-palace,
and passing into the sick-chamber, commemorated with the dying publican
that offering of Himself by which the Redeemer procured for His
disciples a present salvation and victory over death and the grave.
After the solemn service, the Minister entered the bar-parlour, and
remained for some time, observing with deep interest the attention paid
by various groups of customers to the instruction of the Missionary. As
they left together, he remarked, thoughtfully, "While you were in the
bar, the landlady told me that, besides being the means of her husband's
salvation, you have reformed some of the worst men and women who used to
support the house. This is grappling with the greatest evil in my
parish, and God is blessing the effort. I wish that all such houses in
the parish were thus visited."
"Your desire, sir, shall be carried out as far as the district under my
visitation is concerned," was the reply.
The aged clergyman, taking the hand of the lay visitor, said with
emotion, "May the divine blessing make the effort powerful, that the
Redeemer's work may be extended amongst these multitudes of the
spiritually dead."
The landlord lived about a fortnight after commemorating the Lord's
death, and his end was peace. Only a few hours before his entrance into
rest, he requested that this Scripture might be engraved upon his
tombstone: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye
also appear with Him in glory."
A year had scarcely passed when the widow was compelled to leave the
business, and she went to live in another part of London. She rapidly
sank from affluence to extreme poverty. Hearing of her condition the
Missionary sought her out, and was saddened to find her in a back
kitchen at the East-end of London. He took her two little girls, aged
eight and ten years, home with him, and through the kindness of leading
men in the trade, obtained their admission into the Licensed
Victuallers' School. Employment was obtained for the widow as
sick-nurse, and she has since lived a useful and Christian life.
While visiting this family the following circumstances occurred, which
gave the Missionary influence with several licensed victuallers and
their customers.
The potman at a very low public-house just by was taken seriously ill,
and the landlord, upon hearing that a Christian man had visited another
house, sent to inquire for him, and then wrote a note, asking him to
call and see his man. The visit was paid, and was succeeded by others,
until the young man recovered. The landlord and his wife were thankful
for the attention paid, and upon each call asked him into their private
room. This led to an intimacy so close that he was consulted both as to
their religious and business difficulties: these can be best explained
in their own words, as the visitor was seated with them one afternoon.
"You see, sir," said the landlord, "that I can tell you anything, as you
are not like the religious and teetotal sort of people who talk and
write against us, but never call upon us, that they may understand our
position. Now I don't want, and thousands in the trade don't want, to
make or to serve drunkards. In our last house we lost nearly all the
money my wife and I saved in a long service; but if I had pandered to
vice, we might have been there now. While trying to make the house
respectable, we lost 'takings' from the depraved and drunken, and, as
the result, were not able to meet demands, and were obliged to leave and
take this still lower class of business. The truth is, that publicans,
as a respectable body of tradesmen, need sympathy and Christian
influence, instead of abuse, which only worries and makes us, in
self-defence, resist rather than assist in the necessary reforms; and
then, as our trade is a temptation, we need religious influences in our
families: but no clergyman has ever entered my house. I have gone
wrongly, as I have taken to 'sipping,' but it's hard to bear up against
the trials I have had to pass through." "When we married," added the
wife, "we had £200, and felt that we should do well in this business;
the Sunday trade has however made me wretched. During the fourteen years
I was lady's maid I went to Church twice every Sunday; and from that
happy life to serving behind a bar is a dreadful change. This is not
needful except for two hours at meals, when the necessary article of
consumption could be supplied; and then the rows in the tap are a
constant misery to me, and I wish we were out of the business
altogether."
"You have my deepest sympathy," said the Missionary, "and I will advise
you as a true friend. Your constant drinking, landlord, must be stopped,
or you will be brought to an early grave, with the curse pronounced
against the drunkard resting heavily and for eternity upon you. As
regards your wife, it is wrong to expose her to the misery which a woman
of Christian feeling must endure in this class of house. My advice is,
get out of it. You might save sufficient from the wreck to take a small
general shop, and you could then get a connection as a waiter among your
old acquaintances. The great matter in this difficulty, as in all our
trials, is prayer: this you have both neglected. Inquire of the Lord,
and He will direct you."
A fortnight after this conversation the landlord and Missionary met the
agent of the firm to which the business belonged, and an equitable
arrangement was made for giving up the house. Upon leaving the trade
they took a small grocer's business, and became Church members, and
prospered in their new calling.
Another publican, who was met with in this house, spoke strongly against
the Sunday business.
"Grumbling is of little use in such matters," observed the visitor.
"Act: get up a petition asking Parliament to close you entirely upon the
Lord's-day, and request one of your Members to present it. A movement of
this kind in the trade would be much to your own and to the public
good."
"If sir," he replied, "you will write out the petition, I will sign it,
and go round with you to other members of the trade, to obtain
signatures."
The request was complied with, and forty licensed victuallers signed the
petition for entire Sunday closing, and it was duly presented.
The arresting power of the Word of God was frequently witnessed in these
gin bars. For instance: a woman one evening who entered the "Globe," and
called for her first dram, was arrested by the reasoning of the
missionary with some labourers. Approaching him, pewter measure in hand,
she exclaimed, "You have no business here; go out, or I will throw this
over you." The men pushed her away, but he said kindly, "Before you do
so, let me say something to you out of this Book," and then, after a
pause to find a suitable passage, he read distinctly, "Thus saith the
Lord that made thee ... I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and
floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my
blessing upon thine offspring." Only a few words of comment were
uttered, when the woman placed the measure upon the bar, and raising her
apron to her eyes, burst into tears, and left, exclaiming, "Oh that I
was a little girl again!" She did not taste the gin, and was never after
met in a bar. It was evident that an arrow of conviction had sped forth
from the Word of God, but with her as with thousands of others, its
ultimate effect was not known. Encouragement, this, for earnest labour
and simple trust in the power and promised blessing upon the
proclamation of God's mercy in Christ; yes, upon the utterance of every
truth contained in His own inspired Word.
Opportunities frequently occurred for seeking the good of customers as
well as landlords, and these led the Missionary to the conviction that
the public-house is a very proper sphere for Missionary operations. The
following is one instance. Upon passing a public-house in his district
rather late one evening, the visitor noticed a woman near the door who
had evidently been crying, and she had an infant in her arms. When he
spoke to her she told him that her husband had just gone into the
tap-room with all the money they had, and she was afraid to follow him,
as he would knock her about if she did.
"Wait here," said the visitor; and then he entered the house, and passed
into the tap. It was filled with low men, several of whom appeared
confused at his seeing them there. He however addressed one of them in a
friendly manner, and said, "You men had better be careful; there is some
one outside."
"Who can it be!" exclaimed several of the men, looking uncomfortable.
"A White Sergeant," was the reply, and the announcement produced a roar
of laughter. To explain the reason of the merriment a digression is
necessary. Well, then, a "White Sergeant" in the tap-room parlance is a
wife who fetches her husband out of the public-house. This is considered
a great offence, and men who submit to such an exercise of "women's
rights" are much joked at by their companions. Many of the quarrels
between husband and wife result from this cause. One Monday morning, in
a court he visited, the Missionary saw five women with black eyes, all
received through efforts to get their husbands home with their full
week's wages. The announcement that a "White Sergeant" was waiting for
one of them outside was therefore considered a capital joke.
As soon as their merriment had subsided, the visitor said gravely, "And
this 'White Sergeant' is a woman of whom any man might be
proud--pleasant-looking and neat in her dress, with a dear little baby
in her arms; and in my opinion the man who would bring such a woman to
cry outside a public ought to hang his head for shame."
The selfishness of men who for their own pleasures would act in this
way, was enlarged upon, until a man rose and quietly left the room. A
few tracts were distributed, and then the visitor also went out, and saw
the man walking away with the "White Sergeant." He approached them and
spoke kindly to the man, saying that he would like to call and give
picture-books to his children. In a surly way he was told that he might
"do as he liked," and he therefore went with them to their door.
Next Sunday the visitor called, and after a pleasant chat, opened the
Bible to read to them, when one of the children began to cry. The
father, without saying a word, took off his rough cap and threw it at
the child with such force as to knock it heavily upon the floor.
The poor child crawled into a corner, and, from fear, remained quiet.
The parable of the Prodigal Son was read, and the man was deeply
interested in it, and with the exposition showing the love of the
Father. As the reader proceeded, the man looked kindly towards the
child, and then went and took it into his arms. The visitor was pleased
with this act, as it showed him that the man could be influenced for
good. As he was leaving, the man addressed him thus,--
"You didn't know me, guv'nor, when you saw me in the tap; but I knowed
you as the chap as made my pal religious, as I used to play
pitch-and-toss with when a boy, and used to go out on the drunk with
after we got to be men; and when I seed him a-dyin', said he to me said
he, 'Bob, get religion, as it ain't no good a-goin' on bad, as Jesus
Christ is our Saviour. And my old woman will tell the tract man to have
a say with you out of his Book.' Well, when you comed into the tap in
that 'ere way, and talked sensible, thinks I, that's 'im, and it's my
Beck outside; so I misselled (slipped out), and shouldn't mind if you
made Beck and me religious, that I shouldn't."
The meaning of the word "conversion" was explained to him in simple
language, and an appointment made for further instruction. These visits
were continued for some months, and a marked change for the better had
taken place, until he one night yielded to temptation, got drunk, and
became worse than he had ever been before. He stripped the house of
every comfort, and all the labour appeared to have been lost upon him.
He was, however, met with one afternoon when hawking crockery, and
induced to sign the pledge. This he kept for three months, and again
relapsed. His friend had come to the conclusion that his case was
hopeless, when he received an unexpected visit from the man.
"Please, mister," he said with some confusion, "I am a-comin' to live
right agin you. I seed a room with a loft over a stable and I took it,
and I shall feel strong like bein' agin you, and shan't be near my pals
as gets me to drink. It 'tain't 'pertinent like, is it, my comin' here?"
The poor man was commended for his strange but wise resolution, and his
friend called to see them very frequently. As a result, the children
were sent to a Sunday school, and the man was seen in the free seats at
church, clean, but in his hawker's clothes. The reformation went on with
him, and he became sober and well conducted. One morning he called upon
his friend, and said, "I never cared, sir, for my children, for I was a
drunkard, and I didn't know nuffin' of our souls and religion, and Beck
and I wants the young uns to be christened, that we does, and we are
goin to stick to church like as if we was made new inside, as is
religion."
A few days after this conversation the curate called and instructed the
parents and the elder children in the Christian faith, and then he
arranged for the baptism. As the Missionary stood at the font with the
six children before him, he rejoiced and gave thanks because of the
change which had passed over the family. The "White Sergeant" and the
drunken hawker had changed in every way since he saw the one crying
outside the public-house, and the other seated in the tap-room. They
remained in the neighbourhood for several years, and were among the most
respectable of the poor.
In this marked way it pleased the great Head of the Church--who is
always gracious to His servants who strive to win souls--to honour the
effort made to secure the salvation of the poor costermonger; and the
leadings of His providence also made it an open door by which the Gospel
has been made known to hundreds of thousands of the London poor. The
Missionary, in accordance with his promise to the minister, commenced
the regular visitation of the fourteen public and beerhouses upon the
district. This was trying and difficult, but good results were granted;
and the Committee of the London City Mission, after examining into the
work, requested him to visit all the public-houses in a large parish, as
his sphere of duty. Results were so satisfactory that they appointed
Missionaries to the same class of houses in nine other parishes, and are
now making efforts to extend the work. It is pleasing to know that in
the bars, tap-rooms, and parlours of 3,450 out of the 10,340 licensed
houses in London, earnest effort is made for the spiritual enlightenment
of the men and women who frequent them. As the gracious and known
result, hundreds of these have been reclaimed from drunkenness and other
vices, and many of them are members of Christian Churches. The influence
upon publicans, and through them upon the trade, has been in many
instances remarkable for good. Some houses have been entirely closed;
others upon the whole of the Lord's-day; while the character of many has
been changed for the better. Bar and other servants, who form a large
and important class, have received great benefits; not a few have been
induced to leave the business, and others have been fortified against
its temptations and snares. In addition to all this, there is a large
daily distribution of Gospel and Temperance tracts, while publications
of a high Christian and moral tone are pressed into circulation. It may,
indeed, be said that a new field for Christian enterprise was opened by
the discovery that it is _possible_ to grapple with the withering curse
of drunkenness at its very fountain-head, and so bring many hitherto
unreached multitudes in our great cities under the influence of
Christian teaching.
The Book in the Bars:
ITS SPIRITUAL POWER.
"Sir, did you ever walk along a street,
A low back street, at night, where drunkards meet!
Where the gin palace turns the night to day,
And public-house and beer-shop line the way?
Say, did you listen? What, sir, did you hear?
Our English workmen were enjoying beer.
Did the rude clamour come from happy men,
Or wild beasts maddened, raging in their den?
You heard the fiendish laugh, the oaths, the strife,
The curses heaped upon a helpless wife;
The wretched harlot's song, the drunkard's roar,
The noisy fiddle and the rattling floor;
You saw the ragged mother sick and pale,
You heard the miserable infant's wail;--
That was the Englishman's happy lot:
That was the music to the poor man's pot:
You heard it? Yes,--our workmen mad with drink!
Something to make a sober Christian think!"
_Mrs. Sewell._